The Diego Diaries: Scoutin' (dd6 408) Just in case, try reading 406 (?) to this one because they are getting put back into order. Sometimes when I think something is coming up I write ahead so I can post new parts every day. I posted them out of order. BWAHAHA! Bad Arctapus. :[ This is in the right order. I think. WEEPS! I hate when I do this. :D
-0-Later that night in a wilderness camp on Earth
:Ironhide?:
:WHAT!?:
:Oh, Ironhide … you give me such tingles on the neural net:
:I do don't I: (HUGE preen) :What?:
:How's it going with you and Granny and the boys?: Ratchet was on his way to Unidad after dropping everyone off everywhere since it was morning on Mars even if it was night on Earth. He had just finished going through data with Lim-Lee who was on her way with Holi and Maxi shortly due to unforeseen workload popping up. Grabbing a corn dog from a food truck parked outside the Metro, because corn dogs, he was feeling no pain. :By the way, the femmes will be there in a few moments:
:Okay. It went well. We ran around looking for plants, picked berries, banished mosquitoes … did you know that's the state bird of Alaska?: (grin)
:I heard they were bad: Ratchet grinned as he rode the subway to the Basilica where he would go cross country to the big new habitat. Soon, there would not only be newly arrived inhabitants to ogle the place, there would be a press junket which was being organized. Guess who got that detail?
"Not anymore. We had lunch. Dinner, too. Thanks for putting in the extras: Ironhide grinned. His hold was filled with boxes of fudge, Fig Newtons and Oreos.
:Not a problem. What did you do then?:
:We made s'mores:
They both laughed loudly. Internally.
:Did you tell them about Prime?: Ratchet asked.
:No. Annabelle Lennox did:
:Did she leave out the part where Prime can't hold his beer?:
:No:
They both laughed loudly. Internally.
:Any casualties besides Prime's dignity?:
:No. It was funny. Then we had a talking circle with a talking stick: Ironhide grinned.
:Do they have sticks that talk?:
:No. The only one who can talk is the slagger holding it. No one else can: he said as the scene came back to his processor …
"Tonight, we want to know more about each other. We're going to pass the talking stick to let everyone have a chance to tell about themselves or anything else they want. No one speaks when they talk and when they finish, you can ask respectful questions. How about you starting, Steven," Mr. Mertz said as he handed the stick to the first Eagle Scout next to him.
He took it and began to tell a very interesting bunch of things about his life, how he loved scouting, how he was going to college shortly to be a veterinarian, how his family lived, and how much he loved to watch Autobot television programs. When he was finished, he gave it to the next one. The human kids talked about life in America, in Colorado specifically. They told of their achievements, their hopes and goals for life. They spoke of football, sports, family, scouting, and their schools. They were sweet, sincere, eager to know the new kids, and mannerly. It went well.
Then the baton reached Brim.
:Oh-oh. Here we go: Springer said as Drift nodded. The big mechs were sitting nearby on the ground or crouched to listen.
"My name is Berill and I was rescued off Cybertron when the Prime liberated our home world," he said in a soft voice. He was small, had a simple paint scheme identifying him as belonging to a religious group, the Missionaries, and very smart. "I was separated late. I'm not as old as my brothers and sister. They were older and had to live there longer. When the liberation came, we were living in a tunnel in the city of Helex. It was bombed really bad during the war and the Decepticons controlled it right away. My genitors worked in the factory there making ship parts. It was awful," he said. "We were afraid all the time and there was very little to eat. My family protected us, hiding my older brothers so they wouldn't be forced to fight in the Decepticon army. It never seemed like it would ever get good, then I saw a city-former come down out of the sky to land nearby.
"My family ran home from the factory and grabbed us. There were Decepticons all around the camp with guns but they ran past them heading for the city-former … his name was Cyclone. See?" he said as he showed his arm. On it was glyphs and the image of a titan. "I had it put on here so I would always remember him. He saved us. My amma and appa were so sick. My atar and ada carried them on their backs. My brother carried me and the others … they had steel pipes in their servos. They were going to fight anyone who kept us away.
"We ran through the darkness with everyone else. The lights got brighter and then we saw it, the ship settling. The fences went up, then everyone ran forward fighting and shoving. We tried to get there but they were hurting my amma and appa. Autobot soldiers came out and organized us, all of us who were starving and afraid. Then they gave us food. I never tasted such good food before. They let us have all we wanted. Then we finally got inside.
"The doctors helped my amma and appa, then they sent all of us to Mars. It was so amazing. We got a house to live in. I have never lived in a house before. It was really nice. We got to eat good food, have the doctors help us and I got to go to school. I never went to school before. My atar got to go to school, too. He is a mechanic now and my ada takes care of the family. We're safe and happy. That's my story."
He handed the stick to Tippy.
The humans had solemn faces as they listened. No one asked questions. It was instructive.
Tippy smiled at them. "My name is Tippy and I was born in a colony far away from here. My family left Cybertron when the war was falling apart. They went to a colony and helped build it. I was born there." She looked at Annie and Lucy. "Is that how you say 'separated'?" They both nodded, then moved closer to her. She turned back to the group. "We were happy a long time. It was hard but it was good. No one shot at us there. But then they did. The Decepticons came and told us to leave. They were cruel and shot at us. We left, all of us, and flew into space.
"We flew a long time. No one would help us because the Decepticons made others hate all of us. We weren't part of the problem but they blamed all of us. It was awful," she said as her sweet face became solemn. "We were pushed this way with the Decepticons keeping us from settling or staying too long anywhere. They wanted us here. They made sure we moved on even when we were hungry or needed more time to fix ships. Lots of others were chased, too, and they joined us. It helped all of us when that happened. We could share and help each other keep going. We heard the Prime's voice calling us to come, he and Starscream, It kept us going when we thought we would never make it." Then she smiled. "That was when the Knights found us."
Lucy smiled. "Dai Atlas."
Tippy smiled, then nodded. "Lord Dai Atlas found us with his Knights. They saved us. They helped us with our ships and with food. They had doctors, too, the Knight's doctors. They protected us until we got to a refugee camp they had. There were so many there, millions I think. We were able to see doctors, have some food and get repaired. Then the Autobots came with us, flying with us to where our Prime was waiting for us. We were so happy that Optimus Prime was alive and helping us. I won't forget when we landed at Autobot City and he was standing there waiting for us to come. We all cried. All of us were so happy." She seemed lost in thought, then gave the stick to Webber. "That's what I remember."
Webber nodded. "I'm a Seeker. We fly. My family is big and we have a lot of friends. We were Decepticons. The Seekers were Decepticon because no one treated us right. We were the best soldiers Megatron had but he put a death warrant out on us. He never liked that we had families. It was a distraction, he said, to obeying him. He didn't like that our leaders protected us against him. So he had everyone hunt us to kill us. We had to flee. We had an underground system to talk to each other and we were able to get together to leave. Some of us had ships but mostly we flew out. Some of us were starving by the time we were picked up by Dai Atlas or the Autobots. Some of us found refugees to go with, joining their migrations. It took a lot to get them to know we were on their side and would protect them, too. We did. There were fights and it was scary.
"We ran and ran. We never stopped running. It was so scary. It was so really scary," Webber said softly. "When we came here, I was so happy. I can't tell you how happy I was. I still am. We live at Aerie Hill where all our people are. There are so many Seekers there, there's always someone to help you. The ammas and appas are so nice. My ada … my father is in the military. I have three fathers because we're in a trine. Seekers have trines. It makes my family so good. There's always someone there and my ammas and appas … my grandparents?" he asked glancing at Lucy who nodded, "They get to do what they want at last. They don't have to fight. They get to go to the Senior Center and visit. They play games and they take care of us. I'm so happy now. It was too hard the other way." Webber was silent a moment, then handed the stick to Sosie.
Sosie smiled. "My name is Sosie and I love the Autobot Scouts. I love to do that stuff in the book, camping and making things. All my family were slaves for the Decepticons on a planet in the local group. We were scientists, my family, and we were told to make things they needed. Us kids were hidden so they wouldn't get us. Everyone was afraid they would kill us or send us away. We were told to hide and not come out unless we were called with the code word. We learned to be quiet. It was hard but we had to do it. Megatron would have killed us.
"When Lord Optimus came and the Decepticons gave up on world. They were as miserable as us. We were liberated and taken to Mars because we were so starved and sick. The Decepticons weren't much better off though. They weren't treated right by Megatron either and there were criminals doing bad things. It was so scary, I was afraid all the time. It was all terrible. I don't remember a time when I wasn't hungry and scared. But now … it's all better. Mars is my home now. I want to go to Cybertron some day and help there but I want to live on Mars. I go to school. We have a nice house. I love Christmas Surprise." He smiled and the other Cybertronian kids, human and other joined him.
The humans from Earth were solemn.
"I hate war. In school, we see that you have wars here. I hope you don't. I hope you stop them. The people in the middle don't deserve it. No matter what you fight about, its not worth it. We lost our entire planet over a war that I don't remember why it started. Everyone matters. Everyone is good. When you forget that, everyone suffers." He was solemn a moment in thought, then he brightened in expression. "I love the Autobot Scouts. I love being here. Earth is special to all of us. You helped us when you didn't have to. You helped us against the enemy and for that, I will always be your friend."
He handed the stick to Brim. The little mech took it, then looked at it a moment. "My name is Brim and my family was important in the old days on Cybertron." He looked at Bobby. "Days? Is that the same as orns?"
"It is, Brim," Bobby said.
He looked at the kids across the fire. "My family was high caste. They got everything first even though they didn't do anything for it. Some of us just decided they deserved it and it made things really bad. I couldn't be friends with anyone here if this was like that then. I would hate that. Most of our people weren't high caste. Some of the high castes on Mars still think we need that back but we don't. I like things now. I like having friends without worrying about the rest. My family feels the same way. They go to Caste Courts sometimes." He glanced at Ironhide with a grin. "You're a judge, right?"
Ironhide nodded. "I am."
"Praxian Elites are the highest caste. Even Primes have to do what they say. Uncle Ironhide is a Praxian Elite. No one has more say than them." Everyone looked at Ironhide who shifted slightly. Then Brim continued. "My family had an art business. It was the biggest on Cybertron. Now we have nothing. Some of our stuff has been recovered and its hanging in the museums of Autobot City. We don't want to take it back. My ada told me that's where it all belongs. The art belongs to everyone. He told me that he and the others in our caste were wrong and that we're all one. Until all are one is our creed. We believe it and now we try to live it together. It's the only way. I want to be a teacher when I grow up. I want to tell everyone to be good to each other. It's the only way." He was silent a moment. "I saw a lot of people die when we had to leave our colony. Nothing that we say or believe … nothing that we have is worth more than them. My family makes sure that I know that. I hope everyone does." He handed the stick to Kip who was sitting next to Spinner.
Kip patted Brim. "I like your amma, Brim," she said in her tiny mini mouse voice. "He shows us how to draw."
Brim grinned. "He's a really good art teacher."
Everyone nodded because Brim's amma was on the visiting artist list for the schools and loved it madly.
Kip looked at the group before her. She was tiny, smaller than even Spinner. She smiled and everyone in the group melted a little bit. "I came to Autobot City when it was smaller and underground. I love it. Its safe there. No one wants to shoot you there. They did where we used to live and they chased us, the Decepticons. I was so glad when Lord Optimus went to Cybertron. We watched it on the monitor in our classroom. It was so amazing when the big ships landed. Everyone was so happy they ran to the ships and it was crazy.
"Now, everyone is safe there and gets to eat food. Everyone has a place to live. Mostly everyone, right, Spinner?" she asked as she looked at her best friend.
Spinner nodded. "I think so, Kip."
Kip looked at the group, then everyone else. "I like Earth. It's so pretty. I liked the plants. We have plants on Cybertron but they're different than these. Coming here with the Scouts is a good idea. You can see us and we can see you. Some of us are afraid of you because we had hard times with organic people but we know that Earth is a good place. I like your different animals. I HAVE A MOUSE!"
It was almost painful, the sweetness of the child speaking. She was as genuinely as sweet as she sounded. She continued. "Spinner is my friend and we play goalie together in our football league. We have a mini-con and micro mini-con league." She smiled brilliantly and everyone grinned back. "We play good together. We have the same teachers. Spinner is like my sister. I don't have a sister," she said and it generated a chuckle from everyone including the mechs. "Mr. Ironhide is our football man. He does the football for us."
Ironhide grinned. "Best thing I do all year."
Kip smiled at him, then looked at the humans. "Thank you for letting me come here. I like Earth and I like you," she said with her usual sweetness.
A murmur of response for her was given, then it was Spinner's turn. "Hi. My name is Spinner. I was born in a ship when we were flying away from our colony. The Decepticons were shooting at us when it happened ..."
-0-TBC 7-9-18 edited 7-10-18